Passerby
by jinxcat99
Summary: It was a one-in-a-million chance that Mrs. Hollister and her 4-year-old daughter Anne-Marie happened to meet and befriend a group of exorcists on one of their missions. After all, she was just another passerby.


jinxcat99: Ok. Here is my 2nd ever fanfic, another one-shot. I know it's really long for a one-shot and I thought about dividing it up, but I couldn't decide where to break it up so I'm just leaving it as is. There are no official pairings here but there are hints of what could be interpreted as Yullen and LavLena if you want to see it that way. The only mentions of characters being couples are either misinterpretations of strangers/children or teasing/jokes by other characters. I tried to keep the characters as in character as possible, you'll have to tell me how I did! Any constructive criticism is deeply appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own -man in any way, shape, or form. There is also a reference to Fruits Basket, which I also do not own. I do, however, own my OCs.

* * *

The afternoon was a warm one. Autumn leaves drifted to the ground as dirt path melted into cobbled street. A fencepost loomed past, proclaiming the crossing of a town boundary line. Mrs. Hollister toddled after her 4-year-old daughter. Coppery curls vanished into tall golden grasses only to reappear beside her mother's heavy blue skirts. A small hand tugged on a white apron.

"Momma, where are we going?" Eager green eyes peered up at the tall plain woman, searching the 21-year-old's clear blue ones. Tucking away nearly identical strands of copper-colored hairs, the young parent swept up the petite child and held her close to her chest all without spilling the basket of rolls hanging from the crook of her left elbow.

"We're going to visit Momma's old friend, Father Anthony, and then we're going to the market to get some new fabrics." The young child wriggled in her grasp, small hands stroking the silky strands of hair her mother's long plaited braid.

"Am I gonna get a new dress?"

"Perhaps." Mrs. Hollister smiled benignly at her young daughter, re-affixing the small pink bow in the little girl's hair and straightening the matching pink dress. The small child fidgeted and swung her stocking-covered legs above the ground. Upon setting her daughter down, the 4 year-old immediately raced ahead to view the downslope of the small hill and the bustling town nestled upon its plane.

There was nothing remarkable about the town. It wasn't particularly large or important. The town itself was bordered by woodlands and open fields of ripe golden wheat. Wooden and stone brick houses crowded cobble streets where the townsfolk roamed between various shops and vendors. A small square could be seen boasting a simple stone fountain. Several small children were running about splashing each other or playing tag.

"Look Momma! There's Lucy and Peter!" Small pale fingers followed the progress of a pair of blonde children who dodged an old grandmother in their race to get away from a third brown-haired boy wearing a cap. All three children were laughing, and so was the old grandmother after she regained her balance.

"Why don't you run along and play with them while I visit Father Anthony?"

"Okay!" The little girl rushed off so fast she nearly tripped over her own little black buckled-shoes before yelling to announce her presence to the others.

Mrs. Hollister watched the children continue to play for a moment before nervously straightening her basket and entering the beautiful church that overlooked the square on the left side. Once inside, it was easy to locate Father Anthony. His voice echoed from one of the normally vacant rooms.

"-cence. Of course. There is an inn nearby run by my daughter and her husband. It's called The Old Oak Tree. They will supply you with free lodging for the duration of your stay."

"Thank you so much!" A high-pitched feminine voice replied as a group of teenagers exited the room with Father Anthony in tow. One of the boys in particular seemed to draw her eye.

White hair yielded to a round pale face and large eyes with liquid silver pupils. A startling thin red scar began in a star, no, a pentagram, above the left eyebrow and trailed all the way down over his eyelid before ending in a jagged edge on his lower cheek. He dressed similarly to his companions, in a black uniform with red trimmings and a rose cross. Yet, Mrs. Hollister couldn't shake the feeling that she had met the boy before somewhere.

She was shaken from her stupor when one of the other boys, a red-haired one, bumped into her due to her abrupt halt.

"Eh-sorry Miss." The redhead backed up a step sheepishly when their female companion sent him an accusatory glare. It caused Mrs. Hollister to take a closer look at the rest of the group of teens.

The redhead wore an eye patch as well as a bandana that kept his bangs out of his one emerald-green eye. He also had a scarf wrapped around his neck even though it wasn't that cold yet; the town was experiencing an uncharacteristically warm beginning of autumn this year.

The girl, no doubt the one who had spoken earlier, had dark almost greenish black hair. It was beautiful and fell barely to her chin, but it was a rather cute hairstyle nonetheless. She also wore a modified version of the black and red uniform, a more feminine looking long jacket that ended in a frilled skirt instead of a coat and long pants. Unlike the boys, she also wore stockings and heels instead of boots.

The third boy was tall, and had he been wearing the girl's version of the uniform, she might have assumed he was a girl. He had long bluish black hair tied back in a long ponytail and cold cobalt eyes. A scowl was permanently etched on his face. He and the redhead appeared to be the oldest of the four teenagers while the white-haired boy seemed to be the youngest.

The last member of the party was another young man, maybe only a year younger than herself. Unlike the other four, he dressed in a formal-looking suit in place of a uniform and his long blonde hair had been arranged in a single plaited braid running down his back. Oddly enough, there seemed to be two vertical dots in the center of his forehead.

Unfortunately, it was at this time the young man appeared to notice her staring and glowered at her. Mrs. Hollister blinked apologetically before Father Anthony drew her attention away from the strangely dressed visitors.

"Oh, Elizabeth! So glad to see you. I apologize, I was just coming to meet you. As you can see, these folk from out-of-town required my assistance in certain...ah...church matters."

"I see." Mrs. Hollister replied vaguely. In truth, she found it quite odd that these teenagers were involved with the old church in any way, shape, or form. With the exception of the rose cross on their uniforms, none of them even remotely resembled religious students or members of the clergy.

For as long as Mrs. Hollister could remember, no, since as long as Mrs. Hollister's _mother_ could remember, there had never been more than one or two clergymen that ran the local church. Father Anthony led their rather small congregation in prayer every Sunday morning and as far as Mrs. Hollister knew, she was his only visitor every other day of the week.

"Yes, well." Father Anthony continued, running a rough palm through his short graying hair, "I'll be with you in just a moment then. This way, exor-ah, children."

The group of five obediently followed him back towards the church's main entrance. Two of the boys appeared to have started bickering with each other whilst the third was still being reprimanded by the girl for bumping into her. The amused twinkle in his one green eye, however, revealed that he was probably more entertained by the girl's ranting than he was ashamed of his actions.

It wasn't long before their two arguing companions drew their attention, although, with their increasing volume. For a moment it appeared both teenagers were surrounded by their own personal dark auras, but then Mrs. Hollister blinked and it vanished, her blaming it on being merely a trick of the light.

"Oi, Moyashi, shut up. We're attracting unwanted attention." The grumpy young man said. If she wasn't mistaken, Mrs. Hollister swore he had a real Japanese _sword _strapped to his side.

"It's Allen, BaKanda! A-L-L-E-N! And there's only _one _other person still here besides us so I wouldn't say we're attracting _that much _attention, unwanted or otherwise!"

"Tch."

The white-haired youth glared hotly at the long-haired teen who strode briskly ahead and fell into step beside his other friends. The blonde man, whom Mrs. Hollister nearly forgot was still there, raised a single eyebrow but otherwise trailed after them like a silent shadow, ever watchful.

She heard faintly as the group exited the church, once again bidding Father Anthony farewell and thanking him for his hospitality. This was shortly followed by the soft thump of a closing door and returning soft footsteps. Soon, the Father's weathered face and clipped gray mustache came into view once more.

"Once again, terribly sorry to keep you waiting, Elizabeth."

"It's no trouble at all, Father. But if you don't mind my asking..." The 21-year-old trailed off as she followed the elder priest into his office or 'study', where she deposited the basket of rolls on his desk next to all of his neatly stacked documents and scriptures.

"Who were those young folks, I assume?" The old man chuckled, causing his mustache to twitch before turning to face one of the many bookcases that lined the walls. Though he could not see her, Mrs. Hollister still felt her cheeks burn slightly in embarrassment. Unlike a few other young women in town, Mrs. Hollister was not known to pry her way into the comings and goings of others.

Pulling down a thin brown volume and flicking through several of its yellowing pages, Father Anthony turned to face her once more, walking over to sit comfortably behind his desk. He waved at her to take a seat in the rather nice floral-printed armchair positioned a little to the side of the smooth, dark piece of furniture.

"It's alright to be curious, Elizabeth. I know that you were not entirely satisfied with my previous explanation. Then again, who would be? This town doesn't see many foreigners, let alone this church. I imagine this will be quite the buzz in the lower town."

"Isobel is going to be insufferable." The copper-haired woman couldn't help but point out. The priest let out another rumbling chuckle.

"I'm sure she will be. She gossips far too much than is good for her, that one does. I pray for her future husband for having to put up with her."

"Mmm." Elizabeth replied.

"Yes, well. Those children you saw, they actually are here on church matters. They were sent by the Black Order, have I mentioned that to you before? It's an organization that operates under the Vatican. They're just here to look around town. They believe there may be an old...religious relic...somewhere around here."

"I see." Mrs. Hollister replied again, absently stroking her braid much like her young daughter had been on their way into town.

"If you ask me, it's foolish. I doubt they'll find anything. This town is far too dull for its own good." The old man joked, and Mrs. Hollister perked up just in time to feign a laugh and resume her act of pretending to be listening. She was actually still wondering why she felt like she recognized one of the foreigners. The white-haired boy. Though it was doubtful she'd ever met him before, she would have remembered seeing a _child _with _white hair_, and the odd feeling never seemed to fade.

"But that's all irrelevant. How are you, Elizabeth? How are things on the farm?" Obviously, the elder priest had sensed the lack of conversation and was hoping to prompt her into giving more elaborate answers. He didn't seem to want to dwell on the subject of the town's young visitors very much.

"I thought you were bringing little Anne-Marie with you today."

"Yes, yes, I did." Mrs. Hollister jumped in quickly. "She saw a few of her playmates running about the square and went to join them. I imagine they're still chasing each other about."

"Probably. Well, thank you for the bread rolls, Elizabeth. They smell divine. I'm guessing you baked them yourself?"

"I did."

"And they will be excellent for the Holy Communion during this Sunday's Mass. Will your husband be joining us this time around?" Mrs. Hollister internally winced, reminded of her less-than-enthusiastic spouse.

"I cannot say. The autumn harvest is practically upon us and John has been very busy lately making preparations."

"That is...most unfortunate." Father Anthony replied somberly. "Anyways, I believe I have some other matters to attend to, Mrs. Hollister. I'm afraid I must end our visit early today and bid you adieu."

"Of course, Father." Mrs. Hollister stood. "I intended to stop by in the market this afternoon so I really must be going myself. Anne-Marie is likely to be needing a new dress if she continues rough-housing with Lucy and Peter as she does."

"The Perkins twins, eh? Only the other day, they broke one of the Mr. Emmons' windows playing catch with small stones they found by the road." The old priest mused, scratching his mustache as he leaned in his chair.

"I better hurry before Annie finds herself in trouble as well then. Goodbye, Father." Mrs. Hollister stood, straightening her skirt.

"Indeed. Oh, and Elizabeth. The novel you wanted?" He said, standing before handing her the thin volume he had procured from the bookcase earlier.

"Thank you, Father!" The young mother and older grandfather shared a good-natured smile as they walked back to the church entrance. It was due to Mrs. Hollister's and his shared love of reading that led to their frequent visits every few days.

"Yes, well off with you then. Go on. Shoo!" Father Anthony proceeded to wave her away with his hands until she was already down the steps and across the square, winking at her before disappearing once more inside the house of God.

Mrs. Hollister sighed, observing the even busier traffic in the town square before setting out to find her little daughter and go shopping.

* * *

"Momma, can we go look at dresses now?" A mop of mussed copper curls whined from her perch on a stack of different colored cotton swaths.

"How many times must I tell you, Annie? Mommy is going to _make _you a dress. Not buy one."

Mrs. Hollister sighed exasperatedly from where she was examining a collection of various patterns and threads.

"But Lucy's parents bought _her _a dress. Why can't you buy _me _a dress like Lucy's?" The 4-year-old protested.

"No means no, Anne-Marie Hollister." The girl only pouted some more.

Turning back around to continue searching through different colored threads, the girl's mother sighed and retrieved a light green spool from the shopkeeper's collection. Paying for the rest of the fabric, the farmer's wife and her daughter made their way through the busy marketplace.

Mrs. Hollister made sure to keep a firm grip on the 4-year-old's small hand as they wove through the busy crowd of shoppers. Annie's little head whipped back and forth as she curiously viewed the vast expanse of merchandise laid out by vendors and shops hoping to catch the attention of any potential customers.

Had her mother loosened the girl's fingers only a little, no doubt the little she-devil would have already disappeared into some store or another only to return complaining about how she wanted candy, or a new doll, or something equally unnecessary.

"Momma..." Oh, dear. Elizabeth mentally prepared herself. This time she wouldn't even _look _at the girl when she begged. At least that way she wouldn't be tempted by Annie's ridiculously pitiful puppy-dog eyes.

"Aren't those the people from the church?"

"...Huh?" Whatever the girl was going to ask, the 21-year old copper-haired woman did not expect _that. _

"Who?" Anne-Marie didn't even go into the church with her today, she had been playing with her friends at the time, so how...?

"The church people. The ones that left a few minutes before you came out. Lucy and I noticed them come out because she said that one guy had a ponytail that made him look like a girl. And another one had hair even whiter than her grandpa's!"

Oh. That explained it, though Mrs. Hollister couldn't exactly feel better knowing that Anne-Marie only recognized them because she and her friends had been making fun of their bizarre appearances.

Looking back over her shoulder from where the two had stopped, the 21-year-old could see that the girl and the redhead were animatedly talking with a store-owner (the redhead also appeared to be flirting with the cute store owner's assistant much to his girlfriend's annoyance). The other three members of their group were standing a little ways off in what appeared to be a rather tense and uncomfortable silence.

They certainly make an impression, Mrs. Hollister thought. Then again, the Oak Tree was just around the corner of the main shopping plaza. Along both sides of the marketplace were the sewing shop, an antiques store, a bakery, a fruit and vegetable vendor, a toy shop, a general store, and a small coffeehouse.

Seeing the coffeehouse, Mrs. Hollister once again cast aside any thoughts of the mysterious visitors and decided she could do with a nice cup of tea right about now.

"Annie, would you like to get a muffin or something to eat at the coffeehouse?"

"Really, Momma? Can I?" The girl startled, though quickly became excited that her mother was for once _willingly _offering to go get a treat. The farmer's wife smiled and led the girl inside to a booth where they ordered one cup of tea and one blueberry muffin.

* * *

Sometime later, after paying for their small meal and exiting the coffeehouse back out onto the streets, the mother deemed it was time to head home.

"But Momma!"

"No, Anne-Marie. Your father will be wondering what's taking us so long. I promised we'd be back in time to help him with the last of the weeding in the fields. _And_ I need to prepare this evening's supper."

"Fine." The girl kicked a small pebble on the ground.

"Don't forget, we'll back on Sunday for Mass. That _is _the reason we came here today after all. To drop off the bread to Father Anthony and get fabric for your new dress." Mrs. Hollister amended.

"I guess."

They walked in silence for a while after that. The streets were still rather busy but as the afternoon wore on and they grew nearer to the town's border once more, the emptier they became.

It was when the mother and child were just about to leave through the main gate that an explosion went off. Anne-Marie screamed and Mrs. Hollister grabbed her and hugged the girl to her chest as she spun around to locate the source of the disturbance.

Several meters to their right, a building had partially collapsed and was billowing smoke. Many people were running about screaming or cowering in fear. It was chaos in general.

At first glance, it appeared the threat, whatever it was, was now gone. Until some of the bricks shifted to reveal something that made the 21-year-old parent go weak in the knees.

A large spherical monster with an awful petrified face and multiple gun barrels protruding from its metallic gray body was rising from the rubble. Taking shelter behind a nearby fruit cart, Mrs. Hollister peaked around the corner of the woodwork and watched as the monster fired huge gray bullets out of its body, angling the gun barrels for better accuracy.

With the copper-haired young woman to bear witness, at least three people were shot down by these bullets only for their skin to quickly turn black as they disintegrated into nothing but dust and empty clothes. Something about those bullets had caused their bodies to become completely destroyed.

Equally horrified and shocked, Mrs. Hollister didn't notice another monster had appeared until the second explosion. This second creature was practically on top of them though it had yet to notice either Mrs. Hollister or her daughter.

Anne-Marie was being surprisingly quiet. Most likely the sudden terror had left the small girl temporarily unable to speak, but she was proud of her nonetheless. Mrs. Hollister had to physically clasp a hand over her own mouth to keep from screaming.

But in the end, it wasn't enough. The monster discovered them hiding behind the cart.

Mrs. Hollister grabbed her daughter and attempted to escape but only managed to trip over her own feet in her intense panic.

This was it. The creature was aiming all of its gun barrels at them and was about to fire. She was going to die. Anne-Marie was still silent, but tears were trickling down her face. Mrs. Hollister hugged her close to her chest in a last-ditch effort to shield her only child.

As she readied herself to die, she couldn't help but imagine that this was something she never would have predicted. That she would die now, so suddenly, at the hands of some mechanical killing-machine in broad daylight. Mrs. Hollister closed her eyes tight and heard the blast as the monster fired its guns.

...Except the bullets never came. There was definitely some kind of explosion and a flash of light, but no impact. After a moment, a hand landed on her shoulder.

Mrs. Hollister shrieked and flinched away but opened her eyes enough to see that her 'attacker' was the white-haired boy from earlier. The long-haired grumpy teen stood over the monster's nearby corpse with his sword unsheathed. It was obvious that he had just slain the creature, resulting in yet another explosion, and his sword seemed to shine with blue light, giving it a rather ethereal glow. And that wasn't all.

The white-haired teen who had attempted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder was now clad in a billowing white cape, spiked at the collar and adorned with an ornate silver mask. The left eye marked by the strange red scar was now entirely black with two red circles, rather like a targeting system, in the center, all of it surrounded by two gray semi-transparent sets of gears. But the most shocking thing off all was his arm.

His left arm was entirely black, scaly, and almost armored in a way, with a white cross on the back of his hand and long thin blades for fingers.

"Miss, you need to get to safety." He said. The seriousness in the boy's tone surprised her but it barely showed through her utterly terrified expression. It felt like she was literally frozen in place.

"Oi! Hurry up and run the fuck away, you stupid bitch." The swordsman yelled from where it seemed another battle was taking place. The first monster had altered its appearance after killing so many townsfolk and seemed to have gained new abilities as well.

The white-haired boy looked like he wanted to reprimand the swordsman for his choice of language but he knew it wasn't the time. The anger in the other boy's voice had seemed to awaken the woman before him to the dangers of this reality and, trembling, she slowly stood before him.

"That's it." He smiled encouragingly at her and Mrs. Hollister stumbled away from the street to the safety of a nearby dark alley.

The fight didn't last long. For a few moments, all you could hear was the clash of metal on metal, more explosions, and the occasional battle cries. Loud crashes were also quite common.

Mrs. Hollister could only hope it was the monsters that were being smacked around and not those strange foreigners.

The 21-year-old couldn't fathom why or how they were able to combat those horrible creatures, yet another mystery surrounding these so-called visitors, but it explained why she had seen them at the market earlier. Perhaps they were gathering supplies, or looking for information. Maybe they were patrolling the town looking for these...these things.

Whatever the case, it definitely sounded like they knew what they were doing. Killing the monsters...getting civilians to safety...like they were professionals at this kind of thing. Maybe they were monster-hunters, however ridiculous that sounded. Then again, the monsters only showed up after they did. Were the monsters chasing them?

Either way, it seemed that these teenagers were definitely more than they seemed.

* * *

After 10 consecutive minutes of relative silence, Mrs. Hollister deemed it safe enough to venture out of the alley.

Clutching Anne-Marie's hand tightly in her own, she emerged from the dank and dark space to see the same group of teenagers picking themselves up off the battlefield, bruised and slightly bloodied, but with no serious injuries. Even the blonde man accompanying them was sweaty and covered in dirt.

"Man, I'm sure glad that's over." The redhead was the first to speak up. A few of them glared at the boy, still regaining their lost breath, but he just laughed at their annoyance.

"If-If you don't mind me asking..." Mrs. Hollister gulped slightly when they turned their undivided attention to her shaking form. "...w-what exactly was 'that'?"

...And silence reigned supreme. Until.

"Che. What, are you stupid? It was a fight, obviously." The copper-haired woman gaped at the raven-haired youth.

"BaKanda! You know what she meant!" The eerily familiar white-haired boy turned to her, "I'm sorry for Kanda's rudeness, but it was indeed a rather bloody fight. Those monsters that attacked you are called Akuma, weapons designed by the Maker to eliminate every human they come across."

"I've never seen any before, though..." She trailed off.

"The Akuma also serve an ulterior motive." The green-black haired girl intervened. "As you saw earlier, each of us have our own weapons to fight the Akuma: anti-Akuma weapons."

"Aptly named." Mrs. Hollister replied faintly and the girl almost smiled.

"Yeah. They're made from a substance called Innocence. The Maker, a man called the Millennium Earl, sends the Akuma out to get the Innocence and bring it back to be destroyed before we find it and turn it into a weapon."

"And you are?" The 21 year-old had to admit, her natural curiosity had peaked. So much so that she didn't even notice how Anne-Marie was practically glued to her side, clutching her skirts in a death grip.

This time, the redhead explained.

"We're exorcists. We work for the Black Order and are committed to fighting the Millennium Earl and his plots to wipe out humanity. At least, most of us are." He replied, glancing at the blonde man who stood impassively by.

"Father Anthony said the Black Order worked for the Vatican. He also said you were here looking for something, but that he didn't think you would find it. Could that be the Innocence?"

"Ah, yes." The girl piped up again. "We were hoping to find an Innocence in this town due to some strange incidents that were reported in this area."

"I haven't heard of anything strange going on. Although I don't actually live within the town's borders."

"Some people reported a strange illness was killing people. The church thought it might be Innocence but Lavi recognized it as just a more rare and exotic disease. Most likely brought by here by a previous traveler or some other host."

"He must be rather knowledgeable to recognize something like that." Mrs. Hollister observed.

"Hehe, well, I do a lot of reading in my spare time." The boy with the red hair and the eye patch, he must be Lavi, rubbed the back of his head. It sounded deceptively like he was dodging the question but Mrs. Hollister didn't pressure them for any more information.

"How interesting." She responded instead, "I do a lot of reading myself. But I've never heard about anything like this before."

"Actually, very few people know about this. Only those associated with the Order know about it." The white-haired boy said. She really ought to ask for their names.

"Then why did you tell me..." She trailed off. The boy seemed to realize her unasked question.

"My name is Al-"

"Moyashi." The raven-haired man interrupted with a smirk and Al, or was it really Moyashi, glared at him before continuing.

"It's ALLEN and we told you because since you survived the Akuma's attack it's possible the Earl could come after you. But we do need to ask that you don't tell anyone about this."

"Oh, please." Mrs. Hollister was much more relaxed to the point that she could afford to be sarcastic with her response. "Like anyone would believe a story like this. It's entirely unbelievable unless you see it with your own eyes."

"I suppose it is." Allen smiled. It was in the comfortable pause in their conversation that followed when the 21-year-old woman realized exactly how much of the town had been destroyed.

"Oh, dear. It looks like the Old Oak Tree is going to be closed for quite a while. Weren't you planning to spend the night there?"

Allen's smile faltered and the girl suddenly looked worried. By this time, Lavi had wandered over to pester the dark-haired male and the blond although his one eye widened in surprise when he overheard the woman's comment.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Hollister said quickly, "You can stay with us at the farm tonight."

"Oh no. We couldn't impose on you like that..." Allen began.

"Baka Moyashi, of course we can." The Japanese exorcist stated Kanda, Mrs. Hollister thought she remembered his name. Or was it BaKanda? She supposed it could be his nickname. After all, he always called Allen 'Moyashi'. She wondered what that meant in, what she assumed was, Japanese.

While she was distracted, it appeared 'Moyashi' and 'BaKanda' had started fighting again. The two other males watched: one in amusement, the other in mild irritation. Sighing, the greenish black-haired girl spoke.

"Sorry about those two and their constant bickering. I'm Lenalee Lee, by the way. And we would be very grateful to accept your offer if it isn't any trouble."

"Ah, no. No trouble at all." She laughed softly as the two supposed comrades showed no signs of ending the fight as Allen began using frantic hand gestures to accompany his arguments. "Those two do argue a lot, don't they?"

"You have no idea." Lenalee replied.

"They remind me of myself and John, especially when we first met." At this, the two exorcists along with Lavi turned to listen.

"They do?" Lavi asked.

"Oh, yes. John and I met in school when we were small children. We were in the same class and we hated each other. He always teased me and called me names. I once caught him bullying a little brown-haired boy once. The poor kid didn't attend our school so he must've been an orphan from out-of-town just passing through. John was there with a bunch of other boys who had cornered him on the street and were pelting him with sharp stones."

"That's terrible!" Lenalee exclaimed.

"So what happened to him?" Lavi asked again, Mrs. Hollister noticed he asked a lot of questions. She supposed the two of them were rather alike, always reading and very curious.

"The boy? I don't know. He was gone the next morning. I know because I went to make sure the other boys weren't beating him again."

"Er, that's not what I meant. It's good the kid got away though, I was going to ask what happened to John," The red-headed exorcist replied. "Do you still hate each other?"

At this, Mrs. Hollister laughed. The teenagers looked confused at her reaction.

"I'm sorry." She stopped, trying to regain her breath. "To me, it's like you just asked if the sky was green. I should have told you earlier. The only reason John and I argued and fought so much when we were children is because we, er, well we..." Mrs. Hollister trailed off, unsure how to word it properly.

Lavi and Lenalee watched her intently. She assumed they probably associated her and John's relationship with that of Allen and Kanda. Both of them were listening too so they probably did as well. Oh, how she couldn't wait to see their reactions.

"Well...? You what?" Lenalee prompted.

"We...um...how should I put it...?" The young parent tittered on uncertainly.

"Get on with it!" The raven-haired boy snapped.

"John is...John is..." Oh, how to say this without embarrassing them _too _much...

"John is my Daddy's name. And Momma loves him very much...does that mean they love each other too?" 4-year old Anne-Marie Hollister pointed to the two previously arguing, now stunned, exorcists.

"Are they gonna get married and have kids too? But they're both guys." Allen choked and Kanda's eye appeared to be having a permanent muscle spasm.

It took just as long for Mrs. Hollister to think, "Why? Why does she choose right _now _to start talking again?!" before Lavi burst out laughing, clutching his stomach and almost crying tears of mirth. Lenalee was grinning maniacally, which surprised Mrs. Hollister, and her fingers twitched like she wanted to write something down.

But Allen and Kanda took the prize for being Most-Freaked-Out-By-a-Four-Year-Old. One glance at the two of them and Mrs. Hollister couldn't help but start laughing as well. Soon enough Lenalee joined in as well. Even little Anne-Marie, who seemed rather confused about what was going on, started giggling.

Allen's cheeks had reddened to the point where they were nearly the same shade as his scar and Kanda looked positively terrifying, as if he were going to murder each one of them right now in the most painful way possible. Especially Lavi.

That only made them all laugh harder since the effect was ruined by his expression. It's rather hard to be intimidating when you're blushing like a schoolgirl.

By this time, Allen was practically quivering in embarrassment while Kanda was shocked that they all weren't running for the hills yet. His shock dissipated as he became even angrier, and his face even redder, and he began spewing profanities and threatening them all with severe bodily harm (actually it was mostly Lavi, it was against his morals to injure a lady).

It was then that even the indifferent stone façade of the blond man watching them, Mrs. Hollister had forgotten he was there actually, crumbled and he struggled to hide his smile before finally giving up and laughing along with them.

Allen stuttered like he wanted to protest or deny the similarity between Mr. and Mrs. Hollister and Kanda and himself, but his mouth didn't seem to be working properly. Or his mind didn't seem to be working properly. Either one.

Eventually though, the group remembered that they did need to breathe at some point and they were left gasping for breath. Lavi had fallen over at some point and both Lenalee and Mrs. Hollister were clutching their stomachs.

As soon as Anne-Marie could draw breath and her cheeks stopped hurting, she made another announcement.

"I don't get it."

This caused everyone to start laughing again and it was a full five minutes before they settled and calmed themselves once more. On any other day, they mightn't have laughed quite as much, but after the crushing atmosphere following the recent Akuma battle, it was a welcome relief.

* * *

An hour later, the exorcists were settling into the barn behind Elizabeth's farmhouse. Allen's face was quite possibly permanently tinted carnation pink and Kanda was still grumbling about "not liking the fucking Moyashi". Every once and awhile Lavi would randomly start laughing to himself or Lenalee would let slip a silly grin.

"I'm sorry it isn't what you're used to. But it's a dry safe place to sleep for the night. It won't get cold either, it's still rather warm out, even at night. I guess summer doesn't realize it's over yet." Mrs. Hollister smiled, passing out blankets and old feather pillows.

"Or autumn hasn't realized it's already begun." Lenalee chimed in sweetly.

"Oh! My joke next!" Little Anne-Marie had insisted on helping out and was 'assisting' her mother by examining the blankets for any moth holes or rips and tears. After the girl had approved the last few sheets as being "Ok, but they're not very fluffy," she had toddled over to run interference between a certain Japanese man and Bookman's apprentice.

Apparently, not even Kanda was cold enough to snap at the adorable little girl, although he gripped his sword so hard his hands turned white like Allen's hair color, white. All the while, Lavi was taking advantage of his new freedom from the threat of the rather painful consequences that came from taunting the samurai-like exorcist.

"Hey Yuu-chan~ Can I be your best man~? And Lenalee can be the Maid of Honor...Oh, wait! Which one of you is wearing the tux and which one is wearing the dress? Ha, I bet little Allen-chan would look really cute in a wedding dress. What do you think?...Yuu?...Yuu-chan?"

Let it be said that Lavi Bookman Jr. has always, and will always have, a monumental death wish. Kanda was now shaking in anger and glaring burning daggers into the redhead's skull.

"The wonderfully oblivious 4 year-old prattled on, "Daddy told me this one!" She cried excitedly, casually tugging on Kanda's long ponytail and effectively startling him out of mentally committing homicide on the dumb rabbit before him.

Not even Lenalee would be able to get away with such a thing.

"What do you think snow becomes after it melts~?" The young girl asked sweetly.

"Che." Kanda turned away as, oddly enough, Link decided to answer the young child.

"Obviously it becomes a liquid. Water, to be exact."

"Nope~!" Anne-Marie sang, popping her 'p' and skipping over to where the blond was seated at a small wooden table, a stack of papers spread out before him. Absently, she climbed up to sit on the edge of his chair, softly running his fingers over the intricate pattern of his plaited braid.

"What? Um, let's see. It...It becomes spring, doesn't it? No matter how cold it is now, spring will always come for sure." Allen smiled politely as the little girl beamed at him. Link huffed and looked away.

"Uh-huh~! Daddy says it's really amazing. The snow always melts away. I like snow. It's pretty, like your hair. But I like spring a lot, too! I like all the flowers and butterflies and it's always sunny and it smells nice too!" The copper-haired girl chattered on, cheeks flushed in her enthusiasm contrasting the light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

"By the way, where is Mr. Hollister? I thought he would be here..." Allen spoke up again, tilting his head curiously to one side.

"Ah...you see. My husband was here earlier working the fields, but if you hadn't noticed, much of the town was destroyed in the Akuma battle so he went to go help clean up."

Liar. Part of that was true, but the other part was that her husband simply didn't want to put up with having to deal with several guests spending the night in his hay barn.

"O-oh. We're terribly sorry about that..." Lenalee and Allen suddenly looked somewhat guilty while Kanda didn't seem to care and both the blond and Lavi were distracted by Anne-Marie's various antics. She had ceased running her fingers over the Inspector's braid and was now getting a piggyback ride from the 19 year-old Bookman's apprentice.

"It's nothing that can't be fixed. Besides, it was the Akuma who destroyed the town, you just did what was necessary in order to defeat them. Actually, we should all be thanking you. You saved our lives." Mrs. Hollister replied.

"Then I guess we did our job." Lenalee smiled.

"Wheee~ Faster, faster!" Anne-Marie squealed as Lavi ran past at full speed, fingers tugging on his orange-red locks as Kanda charged right after them, hissing insults under his breath. Hopefully he wouldn't maim Lavi as long as he was using the adorable 4 year-old as a human shield.

"Careful." Mrs. Hollister admonished the pair as the small girl ducked just in time to avoid some of the tack and other equipment hanging from the ceiling and walls.

Unfazed, the little dare-devil just giggled and her curls bounced as Lavi suddenly had to jump to avoid overturning a bucket of milk and a wooden stool. Kanda was not so fortunate and tripped over the stool to land right on top of where Allen was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Lenalee.

After much shoving and a few choice words, which Lenalee then admonished him for seeing as a young impressionable girl was still running Lavi around the barn, Kanda stood and angrily stalked outside, promising to "skin the stupid rabbit later".

Eventually though, even said 'stupid rabbit' became tired and suddenly catapulted his 4 year-old jockey into a huge pile of hay at the other end of the barn.

"Haha. This is great! Yuu-chan can't try and kill me with this little tyke around! Can we keep her~?" Lavi grinned.

"Lavi!" Lenalee scolded but the smile on her face gave away her amusement. The remaining exorcists laughed along with their humorous hostess.

"I was surprised that you let Anne-Marie goof-off like that. Most parents would be very protective and insist it was too dangerous or too improper." Lenalee turned to said girl's young mother.

"Perhaps. But then, I'm not like most other parents. And I trust you to help watch out for her." Mrs. Hollister's eyes belied a slightly mischievous twinkle. "She likes you a lot. It surprised me how able you are to take care of her and play with her like that. You three would make good parents someday, after all of this Akuma business is over."

Lenalee and Allen flushed slightly while Lavi's grin just widened even further. Mrs. Hollister just laughed at the white-haired boy and forest green-haired girl's embarrassment.

"Don't worry! You're still a little too young for such things. But then, I was only 17 when I had Anne-Marie. So perhaps you're not that young after all."

"I'm 17..." Lenalee trailed off before she processed the meaning behind the young woman's statement.

"Wow, I never really realized how young you are! You're only 21, younger than Miranda, and you already have a 4 year-old child?!"

Now it was Mrs. Hollister's turn to blush. "Hmm...well, I never had any holy war to fight in. Nothing big ever really happens in this town, the most exciting thing that ever happened to me was having a child. I suppose I was pretty young though, wasn't I? But I was extremely lucky."

The 21 year-old parent glanced over at her only daughter who had long since fallen asleep among the hay.

"It just seems so unreal." Allen muttered.

"Haha. You can't be saying you've never thought about it? About having a 'significant other'. A boyfriend or girlfriend so to speak."

"N-no, not really..." Lenalee trailed off while Lavi said "Yes." Lenalee and Allen and even Link looked at him.

"What?" Lavi asked as they stared at him disbelievingly, "I've thought about it before. Not like it'll ever happen for me though."

Lenalee and Allen nodded, knowing Lavi was training to become a Bookman and therefore couldn't afford to have a 'significant other'. Mrs. Hollister didn't but chose not to pick at what may be a rather sensitive topic.

"It probably wouldn't be a good idea for us exorcists to get married or...or have kids. Unless they're associated with the Order, our loved ones would never know about our job and what we do. We'd never get to see them and it's possible they could become potential targets, for the enemy _or _for the Vatican to order they be experimented on with Innocence." Lenalee said dejectedly while Allen twiddled his thumbs and Lavi's ever-cheerful grin lost some of its realty.

"That's terrible! Why would the church wish to experiment on them?!"

"It used to be believed that maybe a blood relative of an exorcist could also become an accommodator of Innocence. They used to perform experiments at the Order, trying to force synchronization. All of them ended in failure. My brother stopped it when he became Supervisor, but there are still officials higher up that could choose to ignore the policy." Lenalee explained.

"I always wondered why you were fighting when you're so young...plus this new information...There aren't very many exorcists are there?" Mrs. Hollister hesitated.

"No. There are only around 20 exorcists right now, though that may not be the exact number." "It sounds to me like this church treats you exorcists more like tools than actual people." The copper-haired woman observed. Link made a small noise of disapproval from the corner but at Mrs. Hollister's sharp, knowing look, he proceeded with writing his report.

"Aah...it's not that bad. They usually don't get directly involved with the Order. They have to go through my brother and fill out tons of paperwork. As long as we destroy Akuma and keep collecting Innocence, they don't bother us." Lenalee continued.

"Your brother must be very clever. You must rely on him a lot. He seems like a really logical and responsible person." The three teenagers stared at her wide-eyed before bursting out laughing.

"Sure, he's alright! If you don't mind the fact that he has a massive sister-complex and tries to avoid working as much as possible." Lavi chuckled.

"Or builds huge robots and crazy experiments that almost always end up coming closer to destroying the Order than the Earl's Akuma ever will." Allen chimed in.

Lenalee looked like she wanted to defend her brother but after trying to imagine the Komui as described by Mrs. Hollister to the crazy, maniacal, trouble-making older brother she knew and loved, she couldn't help but giggle along with them. It truly was a rather ridiculous idea.

"Oh." Mrs. Hollister's cheeks colored once more. "In that case, he must be rather had to deal with, then."

"Tell me about it." Lenalee responded, having to usually be the one to run interference when one of Komui's experiments got out of hand or god-forbid he required yet _another _cup of coffee.

She enjoyed making coffee for him, she really did, it was just annoying sometimes how he seemed to need 20 cups a day and _only _she could be the one to make it and deliver it to him.

At some point it had gotten darker outside, they'd already had supper with Mrs. Hollister and Anne-Marie before entering the barn so it was truly nighttime now. Kanda had returned, sweaty and less-irritated so it was generally assumed that he must have been out training.

"Well, I ought to be heading off to bed. You should as well, you all must be exhausted from fighting earlier. Feel free to come up to the house if you need anything!" With that, the 21-year-old scooped up the peacefully sleeping child from her bed in the hay and left the barn.

Walking back to the house, she reflected on what she had learned so far. It was all so incredible...but it still didn't explain just why Allen had seemed so familiar to her back in town. Shrugging, she slipped into the farmhouse and gently tucked her daughter into bed before heading off to sleep herself….alone, as John must have found a place to stay in town tonight despite the inn being uninhabitable.

* * *

The next morning, the exorcists reluctantly decided that as there was no innocence in this town, they best be heading back to HQ and receive their new assignments. All morning they slowly helped Mrs. Hollister roll up the extra blankets and wasted as much time as possible coming up with excuses to help out with extra chores, play with Anne-Marie, or re-pack the suitcases they had never actually _unpacked._

Even the grumpiest and strictest of the group, Kanda and that Inspector fellow, seemed to be enjoying their short acquaintance with the Hollister's. John had returned in the morning and immediately gone out to continue working the fields, so even Lavi got only the barest glance at dirty overalls and scuffed work boots before the 23-year-old vanished between the long rows of corn stalks, on his way to the apple orchards beyond them.

Even though they'd only spent a night there, life on the farm was relaxing in a way these young apostles of God had never experienced before. And that didn't mean just in terms of labor.

These experiences came in the form of Mrs. Hollister smiling as she hung wet laundry on a clothesline and Anne-Marie ducked in-between the tent-like space of the hanging linens in an attempt to hide from Lavi, whom she was playing hide and seek with, even though Lavi was looking for a hiding place of his own as he'd braided Kanda's hair last night as the samurai-like teen slept using one of Anne-Marie's pink hair ribbons to tie it off in a bow.

"But it looks so pretty~!" The 4-year-old abandoned her hideout, slightly damp from the wet laundry, and ran over to take a leaping hug onto Kanda. When he abruptly stopped, stabbing Mugen into the dirt and leaning on the handle so as not to lose his balance completely and trample her, the little copper-haired girl began 'petting' the long braid.

"Hey, Annie." Lenalee called, automatically using the nickname that Mrs. Hollister had given the small child. Similarly, the exorcists now referred to Mrs. Hollister as simply 'Elizabeth' and occasionally 'Liz' or (in Lavi's case) 'Lizzy-chan'.

"Yes, Lee Lee?" Anne-Marie had started called her 'Lee Lee' ever since she'd heard, at breakfast, that her full name was Lenalee Lee. The exorcist girl in question smiled at Elizabeth's daughter.

"If you like braids so much, why don't you braid your own hair?" Anne-Marie's eyes went wide with wonder, as if she'd never even entertained the merits of such an idea before now.

"Could I?" The 4-year-old asked excitedly, twirling one of her locks of copper hair around her finger as she continued to hold Kanda's braid loosely in her other hand. Kanda himself had yet to move as the girl was practically glued to his side but continued to glare at Lavi who had somehow climbed onto the roof of the farmhouse.

Apparently when your life is in imminent danger of being rather dramatically cut short, climbing onto a roof suddenly in a matter of seconds isn't so incredible. Any exorcist and even a few Finders could tell you that. Mrs. Hollister still froze for about three seconds though, marveling at how Lavi could leap up there in less than a minute when it took John several minutes to get up there with a ladder whenever the roof needed work done.

"Of course, I bet it would look really cute, too." Lenalee replied. Anne-Marie's face lit up before she realized something very important.

"But...I don't know how to braid hair..." The 4-year-old's eyes began watering. She'd seen her mother braiding her hair dozens of times and it always looked so easy, but she still really had no idea how to weave the strands of hair together in the right pattern.

"Oh, sweetie, if I'd known you'd wanted your hair braided, I would have done it for you. You only had to ask," Mrs. Hollister stepped in. The girl mumbled something along the lines of an apology before Lenalee turned to the 21-year-old.

"Actually, do you think I could try braiding her hair?" The Chinese innocence-user asked. The young mother blinked before smiling and nodding her head.

"Yay!" Anne-Marie's miniature depression dissipated in an instant and she bounded away from Kanda, who made a point of huffily pulling Mugen out of the dirt, sitting down not far away to wash and polish it in the shade of the farmhouse.

Lenalee happily allowed the girl to sit in front of her and ran her hands through a few of the smaller tangles in the girl's curly hair while Mrs. Hollister went to retrieve a comb and some more hair ties.

Lavi had climbed down from the roof and sat wiping sweat from his forehead. Chasing after the limitless ball of hyper activeness that was Anne-Marie Hollister was no easy feat. Not to mention high-tailing it away from a very pissed off Kanda. Speaking of which, the bookman in training nervously glanced at said Japanese exorcist.

"Tch." Kanda muttered, leaned against the wooden walls of the farmhouse and started running his finger down Mugen's blade just like he did when he activated the sword's innocence. Sitting on the dusty ground, back against a wall, and one knee pulled up to balance the blade on, Kanda almost looked like a regular, bored teen. Or, you know, a regular, bored teen with a seriously deadly weapon as well as the skills with which to use it.

That, however, was before Allen came around the side of the farm house carrying an arm full of firewood to stack on the top of the logs already piled against the side of the house to the right of where Kanda was sitting. He, of course, was carrying more wood than necessary so he couldn't see over it and, of course, tripped over the raven-haired boy's one outstretched leg.

"Baka Moyashi! Look where you're going!" Lenalee and Anne-Marie paused in their giggling about something-or-other to look over at the sight of Allen sprawled on the ground with pieces of wood scattered everywhere and a very annoyed Kanda glaring heatedly at the white-haired exorcist.

Anne-Marie whispered something to Lenalee and they started giggling again, as most girls often do. Most girls, however, didn't quite apply to Lenalee Lee, accommodator for the Dark Boots and little sister of the slightly psychotic Supervisor of the Black Order's European Branch HQ.

"What're you girls giggling about, Lenalee, Annie-chan?" Lavi asked, genuinely curious.

"Rabbit!" Anne-Marie grinned and Lavi pantomimed being mortally offended, he'd made the mistake of explaining earlier what "Baka Usagi" meant in English when the girl had questioned why Kanda called him that.

"Annie and I were just discussing...certain people." She subtly twitched her pinky finger in the direction of the once again bickering, completely oblivious exorcist duo.

"Discussing what exactly?" Lavi probed further.

"Wedding plans." Lenalee answered truthfully and Anne-Marie piped up, "Lee Lee says I get be the flower girl!" Lavi laughed agreeably as Mrs. Hollister emerged from the house along with Link who now held a freshly baked apple pie figures that that's why he wasn't around. And he's supposed to be keeping tabs on Allen? Tsk, tsk.

"What's this about flower girls?" Mrs. Hollister asked.

"Not much, Lizzy-chan~! Lena-lady here was just inviting Annie-chan to Yuu-chan and Moyashi-chan's future wedding!" Lavi sang, loud enough that the completely oblivious duo suddenly became not-so-oblivious.

"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL WOULD I EVER MARRY THAT JERK/BEANSPROUT!" The pair shouted...in unison...it was actually rather adorable.

"Suuuuure." Lavi teased.

"I'm serious, you guys need to stop joking about that, still! It isn't actually that funny. I hate Kanda!" Allen said moodily, flopping onto the grass besides Lenalee and the green-eyed, copper-haired she-demon that started the whole thing.

"Which is exactly why it's so funny!" Lavi grinned, but that didn't mean he and Lenalee didn't share a very long, meaningful look.

"It doesn't matter. We're leaving now anyways." Kanda spat.

"WHAT?!" Lavi pouted.

"Komui called. Crazy sister-complex says our train leaves in an hour." The 19-year-old responded stoically.

"Oh, no...I don't know why I'm so upset. We've only stayed overnight and then spent a day here, but it feels like weeks." Lenalee sadly commented. The others, except Kanda, Link and Anne-Marie, who didn't understand what was happening, nodded their heads in agreement.

"Wait? Did BaKanda just say you're leaving?" The little girl asked, tears welling up in her eyes and lip trembling. Oh dear God, she looked like someone had just kicked her puppy. It was the devastating you're-about-to-make-the-most-innocent-adorable-little-4-year-old-girl-in-the-world-burst-into-tears face.

"Just for a little while!" Lenalee spluttered quickly.

"Yeah! We'll write letters and send pictures to you and stuff!" Lavi said at the same time.

"We'll come back and visit you soon. I promise." Allen's voice joined the fray.

"Che. Stupid brat, you're too annoying to get away from." Wow, even Kanda joined in the cacophony of mixed voices. Link and Mrs. Hollister's remarks were lost in the noise but they were somewhere along the lines of "It'll be ok, sweetie" and "Would you like some pie?"

Anything for her to stop looking at them with that abominable about-to-cry expression.

"Are you sure?" The 4-year-old sniffed. Everyone else nodded vigorously.

"I swear by my Innocence, this isn't the last time you'll see or hear from us." Lenalee said.

"Oh~" And suddenly, the tears vanished. "Good! I'll go get you some stuff for you to take with you, then. For you to remember me by!"

It was only after the 4-year-old had joyfully skipped into the farmhouse humming to herself that the entire group looked at each other and mentally face-palmed.

"She played us." Lavi said distantly.

"Yeah, but you have to admit...we walked right into that one." Allen sighed.

* * *

A half-hour later, the group of exorcists departed the Hollister farm with many hugs and solemn good-byes.

Anne-Marie followed her new friends as far as she could along the road while still within sight of the farmhouse and her mother. After that, she was forced to stop and waved good-bye to the five members of the Black Order until they disappeared from view.

Once she could no longer see the exorcists and Crow's departing backs, she slowly and sadly trekked back to the farm where she ate a frugal lunch with her mother. She'd be fine in a few days, but for now the 4-year-old would spend the majority of her free time sulking in the barn or begging to be taken to the train station to make sure the teenagers really had left town.

The exorcists meanwhile, had boarded the train that would bring them back to the Order. All five seemed a little quieter than usual.

"I still wish we could have stayed a bit longer…" Lenalee whispered.

"Me, too. But staying longer only would have made it that much harder to leave." Allen replied.

Lavi was silent. As a Bookman in training, he had vast amounts of experience of getting to know people over the course of months or years, not just days, before being forced to leave and move on. It was part of the job.

It had never bothered him before. But then, he'd never been "Lavi" before. The 49th alias seemed to be the version of himself that had the most trouble letting go of any emotional or sentimental attachments. Leaving behind Anne-Marie, who'd grown on him exceedingly quickly, reminded him that eventually he'd be leaving the Order as well. He wasn't so sure he'd be able too, anymore.

The reminder was a difficult and painful one to accept.

"We should've left sooner. We were wasting time that we could have spent on our next mission. Akuma don't stop killing innocents or searching for Innocence just because a bunch of idiots want to play house." Kanda stated monotonously.

All three exorcists looked like they wanted to argue with him, but they didn't because what the Japanese male said was true.

The Akuma, the Noah, even the Earl himself; they wouldn't postpone trying to wipe out humanity so that their enemies could take a short holiday. The longer they stayed idle, relative to collecting Innocence fragments and destroying the Maker's creations, the more innocent people died that might have been otherwise saved.

"But we can still write to them, right?" Lenalee asked, and the train car brightened a little bit as they accepted that although they might not be free to live a normal life, they could still keep in contact with the outside world.

They could still have friends like Elizabeth and Anne-Marie who didn't judge them based on their activities with the Black Order, and who weren't involved in the Holy War. They could still pretend and hope that one day, when the war ended, they could see those friends once again.

So they did.

* * *

_Dear Liz and Annie,_

_ How are you? Is the farm doing well? I went on a mission today with Lavi and Allen-kun again in Germany, as well as another exorcist named Miranda. Miranda asked who I was writing too and I told her the story about how we met. She asked if she could write to you, too, and maybe one day come visit the farm. _

_ You'd like Miranda, she's very nice, although sometimes she gets very depressed. If you'd let her help out on the farm, and maybe thank her for her actions, I'd be very grateful. At least this way, Miranda will keep reminding me that she has yet to meet you. It's too soon since we got back for us to go visit you again, but I asked my brother and he said that it might be possible in the future if a mission brings us within a close distance of your town._

_ Always your friend, Lenalee Lee_

* * *

_**Dear Elizabeth and Anne-Marie,**_

_**I'm sure Lenalee told you about our new mission. We've already discovered that innocence is most certainly involved. It has the odd effect of altering people's appearances. Over half of the townspeople here have multi-colored hair or skin. We've been affected, too, though our Finder, sort of a guide for us exorcists, says that it will probably wear off in a few days.**_

_**Right now, Lenalee's hair is purple. Lavi's hair only has yellow stripes but it looks like his skin might be turning salmon pink. As for me, my anti-Akuma weapon is now a brighter neon green than the Innocence itself. Since the Innocence actually glows, you can imagine how distracting it is. Miranda, however, was perhaps the unluckiest out of all of us. Her skin has been tinted sky blue with blob of white, like clouds almost, and her hair is bright pink. This is definitely one of the more artistic phenomena we've seen Innocence cause.**_

_**It reminded me a lot of you, Anne-Marie!**_

_**Anyways, I might be unable to write to you for a while since my situation at the Order is changing very rapidly, but I'll ask Lenalee or Lavi to send you updates if I'm unable to contact you for any reason. I hope you're faring well and the town has been rebuilt since our last visit.**_

_**Yours truly, Allen Walker**_

* * *

_To Lizzy-chan and Annie-Chan~!_

_I just left on another mission this morning. Moyashi-chan and Lena-lady said they already mailed you letters about thee mission we just got back from. Innocence does crazy stuff, huh? My new __mission isn't that exciting, just a generic Akuma extermination in some Spanish village along the coast. I felt like I should still write to make sure you're ok, though. The rest of us are fine and Kanda isn't back from his mission yet. And Annie-chan, be a good girl for big brother Lavi, ok?_

_The old geezer, my mentor, would kill me if he found out I was writing to you guys, but I don't care about the rules. I'd rather break the rules and have friends, even if I get in trouble. Don't worry or feel guilty, though! I always get in trouble. That doesn't mean you should however. Alright, Annie-chan? Always listen to what your mother tells you…..mostly. I'll write again soon._

_Your friend, Lavi_

* * *

**This is stupid.**

**Alright, brat. I'm only writing this because that Baka Usagi made me. I wouldn't have done it even then, but Lenalee threatened to set the crazy sister-complex on me and he can be even more irritating than that stupid rabbit.**

**The point is these idiots seem to like you so you better be alright and still alive or else they're going to be even more annoying than usual.**

* * *

Three weeks after the exorcists left the Hollister farm, a now 22-year-old woman found herself reading four letters that had been delivered to the property by the town mail carrier.

Smiling, she strolled out to the barn in search of her 4 year-old daughter. Anne-Marie, who was wearing a new spring green dress and forest green ribbons in twin braids, looked up from the game she was playing only to jump with excitement the moment her eyes landed on the mail her mother held in her hands.

"They're finally here, Annie, just like they promised." Elizabeth smiled and sat down in the pile of hay while the copper-haired child crawled next to her in order to see the letters whilst Mrs. Hollister read them out loud.

After finishing reading them all, the 22-year-old produced a sheet of paper and a pen and the two set about sending a response.

'I'm glad we met…it's nice to have friends like this.' Mrs. Hollister thought.

'Even if I still feel like I've seen the white-haired boy, Allen Walker, somewhere before…'


End file.
